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Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski has signed a multi fight deal with Strikeforce, according to a report from Loretta Hunt at Sherdog.com. The deal is for 16 months, per the report, and his first bout of the deal is in the works to face Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva on Strikeforce's as of yet announced May 15th event in St. Louis, MO.
The bout will not only be Arlovski's first MMA bout since his last Strikeforce appearance in June of 2009, which coincidentally also emanated from St. Louis. In that bout he was shockingly upset by Brett Rogers in 22 seconds, a result that earned Rogers a shot at number one heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko in November of last year.
Silva hasn't fought since that November event on CBS, where he lost a unanimous decision to Fabricio Werdum. The former EliteXC Heavyweight Champion had spent over a year outside of the U.S. after a failed steroid test following a victory over the late Justin Eilers in the summer of 2008 before returning for that bout with Werdum. The loss to Werdum was only the second of his career.
The May 15th event is expected to be broadcast on Showtime, and could feature the pushed back heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum.
Penick's Analysis: This is a good heavyweight matchup for Strikeforce, and a good signing for the division despite his quick loss to Rogers last year. This is a very tough bout for him to come back with after 11 months away from MMA, however, and he'll have a lot of questions surrounding what he may be able to do after that layoff against a fighter like Silva after two straight KO losses in 2009. If he can get past Silva, he'll have a couple of possible opponents ready for him, including eventual rematches with both Rogers and Fedor if he can get another return to high level performances.
[Andrei Arlovski art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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